The Last Lecture

The Last Lecture
delegate, had the passion to inspire, and looked good in what he wore to
work. He never professed to have skills greater than his subordinates. He
acknowledged that they knew what they were doing in their domains.
But he established the vision, the tone. He was in charge of morale. On
top of that, Kirk had the romantic chops to woo women in every galaxy
he visited. Picture me at home watching TV, a ten-year-old in glasses.
Every time Kirk showed up on the screen he was like a Greek god to me.
And he had the coolest damn toys! When I was a kid, I thought it
was fascinating that he could be on some planet and he had this thing—
this Star Trek communicator device—that let him talk to people back on
the ship. I now walk around with one in my pocket. Who remembers
that it was Kirk who introduced us to the cell phone?
A few years ago, I got a call (on my communicator device) from a
Pittsburgh author named Chip Walter. He was co-writing a book with
William Shatner (a.k.a. Kirk) about how scientific breakthroughs first
imagined on Star Trek foreshadowed today’s technological
advancements. Captain Kirk wanted to visit my virtual reality lab at
Carnegie Mellon.
Granted, my childhood dream was to be Kirk. But I still
considered it a dream realized when Shatner showed up. It’s cool to
meet your boyhood idol, but it’s almost indescribably cooler when he
comes to you to see cool stuff you’re doing in your lab.
My students and I worked around the clock to build a virtual
reality world that resembled the bridge of the Enterprise. When Shatner
arrived, we put this bulky “head-mounted display” on him. It had a
screen inside, and as he turned his head, he could immerse himself in
360-degree images of his old ship. “Wow, you even have the turbolift
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